Crippled by debt, and managerless after Eddie McCreadie walked out over the club's refusal to provide a company car, Chelsea was a basket case like a picnic hamper.

A giant new stand, three gleaming tiers of it, towered over Stamford Bridge as if a mother spaceship had landed in a scrap yard.

And the glory days of Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson and Charlie Cooke had faded more rapidly than a holiday tan.

Fortunately for the Kings Road swingers, McCreadie had appointed 18-year-old Ray Wilkins as his captain.

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Ray Wilkins (left) was captain of the Blues when McCreadie left in 1977 (Image: Mirrorpix)

Dear old 'Butch' was not just a safe pair of hands to lead Chelsea out of the wilderness after they were relegated in 1975.

His passing range was as flamboyant as the fashion sense which earned his affectionate nickname.

Chelsea may have won Premier League titles and the Champions League in the Roman Abramovich era.

But Blues fans of a certain vintage who saw the opening skirmishes of Wilkins' 24-year playing career hold him in the same esteem as the European Cup winners of 2012 because he kept the blue flag flying when half-mast appeared an attractive option.

Abramovich is down to his last £10 billion or so these days, but when Wilkins was on the launch-pad towards 84 England caps Chelsea were down to brass tacks.

Peter Osgood (centre), king of the King’s Road

He was the standard-bearer for recovery and regeneration in SW6. By the time Wilkins returned to the club as assistant to Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, he had served 11 clubs in four different countries as a player and five as manager.

But as much Wilkins never forgot his first love – and his Chelsea flock never disowned him.

Ray 'Butch' Wilkins died at 61 after a massive heart attack last week had left him in an induced coma.

If there was a gong for the nicest man in football, few were more deserving of the crown.

Chelsea footballer Ray Wilkins at home with his trophies and medals, in London August 1975 (Image: Popperfoto/Getty Images)

“When I finished my career playing for Leyton Orient and Wycombe, I was still waking up every morning still grateful that I was a footballer.” he said in 2010, reflecting on a career which took that enduring flamboyance from London to Milan and Paris.

“I don't think there's a better life. I've been blessed.”

No, Butch – the privilege was all ours.

A wretched year which had already transported Jimmy Armfield and Cyrille Regis to the celestial pantheon has now taken another English football deity too soon.

But we shall remember the extravagant passing range, the receding hairline and, yes, the occasional pearl of wisdom in his later incarnation as a pundit, such as the glorious line: “That's exactly how you head a ball – with the head.”

For a player who was allegedly preoccupied with passing sideways, Wilkins didn't half score some spectacular goals.

There was a the double-lob against Belgium at the European Championship finals in 1980 – one to beat the offside trap and another to leave goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff stranded.